Things Hidden from the Wise: A Meditation on Matthew 11

At that time Jesus answered and said, 

I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, 

because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, 

and hast revealed them unto babes.

Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.

All things are delivered unto me of my Father: 

and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; 

neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, 

and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, 

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; 

for I am meek and lowly in heart: 

and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matthew’s 11th chapter begins with Jesus responding to emissaries of John the Baptist who had been imprisoned, then teaching the crowd about who John the Baptist really was as the last of the Law and the Prophets, and consequently speaking woe upon those cities which refused to repent and believe despite how much time Jesus spent there teaching and working miracles.  Jesus revealed the shocking and scandalous truth, that if He had come in the same way to cities like Sodom, which had been destroyed by divine fire roughly 2000 years before Jesus’ Incarnation, those cities would have repented and remained even to that day.  As wicked and horrible as these ancient cities were, Jesus tells us it will be more tolerable in the day of judgment for them, because they would have believed and turned from their evil had He visited them the same way, unlike the Jewish generation to which Jesus came.

As a summary, Jesus then offered His prayer of thanks to His Father, that such truth is given to the simple in their humility and hidden from the wise in their pretensions, then reminded the people around Him that the only ones who could know the Father and the Son, are the ones to whom God wished to reveal Himself.  No matter how much study a person would do, or effort he might expend, or titles he might gather to himself, Jesus teaches that the knowledge of God is not a human activity, but a divine one—it is God who reveals Himself to mankind, not mankind who reveals God.  No man makes himself holy, climbs up to heaven, and makes God his servant or peer.  Rather, it is God who descends to man, rescues him from his fatal ignorance, and draws him into a saving relationship with his Creator and Redeemer.  

Naturally, this message doesn’t bode well for a prideful and self-congratulatory age.  Our nation has more schools of every level than anywhere else on earth, with access to more information than any civilization the earth has ever hosted.  We have libraries more vast than anything our predecessors might have dreamed available, all fitting in the palm of our hand.  In an instant, we can open a window to writings both modern and ancient, in every language under the sun, on every topic ever considered.  Where the ancients might have risked life and limb to travel to great libraries or schools and there to do research on unique texts and ideas, we can do so immediately from the comfort of our couches and porches.  Ours is a time and place of tremendous knowledge, and yet, it has become a time of great unbelief.

How might the ancients have lived differently, if they had access to what we do now?  If they could see all the archeological evidence we’ve uncovered and made public that supports the several thousand year historical record of the Holy Scriptures; if they could see the unimaginable intricacy of life we have observed through micro biological tools; if they could peer into the delicate and precise balance of energy and time with the tools of our great physics academies; if they could see the influence of political and social philosophy upon thousands of years of civilizations on multiple continents; if they could see and read and learn what God has allowed us to see, and read, and learn, how might the ancients have faired better than we with such great revelation and resources?  How might Plato, or Aristotle, or Augustine, or Aquinas, or Descartes, or Kant, or other great minds of history done better with what we know today, and improved upon the vanities and self-absorption which runs amok in our streets?

Once again we are reminded by Jesus, that true wisdom is not that which we pursue on our own, but that which He gives freely by His grace.  Apart from Him, all the libraries of human knowledge become empty and dis-integrated tools by which the powerful seek to manipulate and abuse their neighbors.  But in Him, all truth finds its center, its wholeness, and its divine purpose in love and compassion which never ends.  In our Creator and Redeemer, the source of all that is true, and good, and beautiful, we find all our knowledge united and refined and elevated to only what He can make it be.  Apart from Him, our pretentious wisdom makes us the foolish laughingstock of the entire universe; but with Him, our simple and humble faith makes us eternal inheritors of His eternal Kingdom.

How does Jesus and His Word meet you this day?  If you are one who has educated yourself into stupor, and undone yourself in faithless pride, repent!  Turn and hear the Word of the Lord which calls to you, urging you back to the simple truth of His love and compassion for you, that your sins might be forgiven, your knowledge elevated by wisdom, and that you might have life in place of the death you have brought upon your darkened mind.  If you are one who has been rejected and abused by the scholars of this world, having leaned upon the sure Word of God while scorned and oppressed, be of good cheer— for there is nothing which man flaunts of his own imagination which can usurp one syllable of Jesus and His Word.  Cling fast to the humble truths, that all creation might be opened to you as the revelation of God’s love and redemption for His people.  And for those who have never known the Lord, the One who framed the worlds, who came to abide with us, to suffer and die for us, to rise again and give eternal life to us, forgiving our sins and revealing to us our unity with Him by grace through faith in Jesus forever, hear His simple call to you today, that no matter your education or title or position in this fallen world, you might find the rest for your soul which your Savior has always been earnestly extending to you.  Hear Him today.  Repent, believe, and live.  Amen.